Deadly checkpoints

According to this report, compiled by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in the Wikileaks-powered Iraq War Logs, detailed manual counts of Iraqis killed at U.S./coalition checkpoints show that only 120 were so-called insurgents, while 681 (or 80 percent) were civilians.

Terrorism

Wars

Iraq War

Before shooting at (“engaging,” in military parlance) a driver, troops are expected to follow an Escalation of Force (EOF) procedure, starting with shouted warnings, flares, horns, lights and other devices to get a driver’s attention before progressing to shooting at the tires or engine; only if these attempts fail are they instructed to shoot at the driver. But this doctrine doesn’t always work as planned, particularly since it was designed to ensure the safety of soldiers first and Iraqis second (not unlike police procedures in the United States). Although most of the nearly 14,000 reported incidents connected to checkpoints and convoys ended harmlessly, there have been 832 cases to date in which a driver was unable to see or hear the warnings or unable to stop or otherwise failed to comply, often with lethal results.